The second and final debate between the presidential candidates was broadcast, due to popular pressure, on Mexico’s national television stations on June 10. In the event held exactly three weeks before the July 1 election, frontrunner Enrique Peña Nieto (PRI) once again held his own, thereby defending his lead. Observers disagreed on the winners and losers of the debate but most noted that the debate was unlikely to be a game changer in this electoral contest. The battle for second place, however, may be affected.

The PRI’s Enrique Peña Nieto appears to hold his lead in the polls after the first presidential debate, and some observers bemoan the lack of interest among young Mexicans in the election and politics more generally.

The first polls after the first presidential debate suggest that the PRI’s Enrique Peña Nieto held on to his lead. According to Mitofsky polling firm, Peña Nieto increased his lead slightly by 0.7 percent since May 1 to 38.5 percent. The PAN’s Josefina Vázquez Mota dropped by half a point to 21.4 percent, her lowest in the campaign yet. Andrés Manuel López Obrador rose by almost a percentage point to 19 percent and PANAL candidate Gabriel Quadri reached 1.9 percent, up from 1.1 percent.

The Wall Street Journal publishes an interview with Enrique Pena Nieto’s campaign chief, while Andrés Manuel López Obrador talks security in Monterrey and a new Reforma poll suggests the race may be closer than the conventional wisdom indicates.

With just over two months left before the July 1st elections, the PRI’s Peña Nieto continues to secure his lead in the presidential contest as the PAN and PRD candidates struggle for second place.

Some polls put the PRI-Green Party (PV) alliance ahead in congressional elections, while the PRD’s mayoral candidate leads by a wide margin in the Mexico City race. The polls are not promising for the governing PAN party.

The PAN’s Josefina Vázquez Mota seeks to solidify party unity by expanding her campaign team, while the PRI’s Enrique Peña Nieto gets more specific on security policy and the PRD’s Andrés Manuel López Obrador reassures business leaders.

As the PAN’s Josefina Vázquez Mota and the PRD’s Andrés Manuel López Obrador seek to catch frontrunner Enrique Peña Nieto (PRI) in the narrowing window before the election, analysts wonder whether new electoral rules have made that increasingly unlikely.

The political campaigns reopened on March 30th after a month and a half long pause mandated by electoral law. The PRI’s Enrique Peña Nieto commands a 15-point lead in the polls, while the PAN’s Josefina Vázquez Mota struggles to keep her party united behind her and the PRD’s Andrés Manuel López Obrador seems unable to expand his reach beyond his core supporters.